George MacDonald Fraser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 2 April 1925 Carlisle,Cumberland, England |
| Died | 2 January 2008(2008-01-02) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Author |
| Known for | The Flashman Papers series of novels; McAuslan short stories; screenplay forOctopussy |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingCaro Fraser |
George MacDonald FraserOBE FRSL (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the characterFlashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven novels and one short-story collection in theFlashman series of novels, as well as non-fiction, short stories, novels and screenplays—including those for theJames Bond filmOctopussy,The Three Musketeers (along withboth itssequels) andan adaptation of his own novelRoyal Flash.
Fraser was born inCarlisle, England, on 2 April 1925,[1] son of medical doctor William Fraser and nurse Annie Struth, née Donaldson. Both his parents were Scottish.[2] It was his father who passed on to Fraser his love of reading, and a passion for his Scottish heritage.[3]
Fraser was educated atCarlisle Grammar School andGlasgow Academy;[4] he later described himself as a poor student due to "sheer laziness".[3] This meant that he was unable to follow his father's wishes and study medicine.[5]
In 1943, during World War II, Fraser enlisted in theBorder Regiment and served in theBurma campaign, as recounted in his memoirQuartered Safe Out Here (1993). After completing his Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) course, Fraser was granted a commission into theGordon Highlanders. He served with them in the Middle East and North Africa immediately after the war, notably in Tripoli. In 1947, Fraser decided against remaining with the army and took up hisdemobilisation. He wrote semi-autobiographical stories and anecdotes of his time with the Gordon Highlanders in the "McAuslan" series.
After his discharge, Fraser returned to the United Kingdom. Through his father he got a job as a trainee reporter on theCarlisle Journal and married another journalist, Kathleen Hetherington.[6] They travelled to Canada, working on newspapers there, before returning to Scotland. Starting in 1953, Fraser worked for many years as a journalist at theGlasgow Herald newspaper,[6] where he was deputy editor from 1964 until 1969. He briefly held the title of acting editor.
In 1966, Fraser got the idea to turn Flashman, a fictional coward and bully originally created byThomas Hughes inTom Brown's School Days (1857), into a "hero", and he wrote a novel around the character's exploits. The book proved popular and sale of the film rights enabled Fraser to become a full-time writer. He moved to theIsle of Man where he could pay less tax.[7][8] He also says he found the island "simpler a nicer place to live... more like the Britain I knew and loved as a child."[9]
There was a series of further Flashman novels, presented as packets of memoirs written by the nonagenarian Flashman looking back on his days as a hero of the British Army during the 19th century. The series is notable for the accuracy of its historical settings and praise it received from critics. For example,P. G. Wodehouse said ofFlashman, "If ever there was a time when I felt that 'watcher-of-the-skies-when-a-new-planet' stuff, it was when I read the first Flashman."[10][11]
The firstFlashman sequel wasRoyal Flash. It was published in 1970, the same year that Fraser publishedThe General Danced at Dawn, a series of short stories which fictionalised his post-war military experience as the adventures of "Dand" MacNeill in a Scottish Highland regiment. The following year Fraser published a third Flashman,Flash for Freedom!, as well as a non-fiction work,The Steel Bonnets (1971), a history of the Border Reivers of the Anglo-Scottish Border.
The film rights toFlashman were bought byRichard Lester, who was unable to get the film funded but hired Fraser to write the screenplay forThe Three Musketeers in Christmas 1972. This would be turned into two films,The Three Musketeers andThe Four Musketeers, both popular at the box office, and it launched Fraser as a screenwriter.[12][13]
FollowingFlashman at the Charge (1973), Fraser wrote the screenplay for the movieRoyal Flash (1975), also directed by Richard Lester. It was not a success at the box office.[14]
There was another collection of Dand McNeill stories,McAuslan in the Rough (1974), thenFlashman in the Great Game (1975) andFlashman's Lady (1977). He was hired to rewriteThe Prince and the Pauper (1977) andForce 10 from Navarone (1978). The latter was directed byGuy Hamilton who arranged for Fraser to do some work on the script forSuperman (1978). He did some uncredited work on the filmAshanti and wrote an unused script forTai Pan to star Steve McQueen. He also wrote a biopic ofGeneral Stilwell forMartin Ritt which was not filmed.[15]
Fraser tried a more serious historical novel withMr American (1980), although Flashman still appeared in it.Flashman and the Redskins (1982) was a traditional Flashman andThe Pyrates (1983) was a comic novel about pirates. He was one of several writers who worked on the James Bond filmOctopussy (1983).Richard Fleischer arranged for him to do work on the script forRed Sonja (1985).
AfterFlashman and the Dragon (1985) he was reunited with Lester onThe Return of the Musketeers (1988) then released a final volume of McAuslan stories,The Sheikh and the Dustbin (1988) and did another history,The Hollywood History of the World (1988). When that film book came out he was reportedly working on a science fiction filmColossus and adapting Conan Doyle'sThe Lost World for TV but neither project was filmed.[16]
FollowingFlashman and the Mountain of Light (1990), Fraser wrote a version ofThe Lone Ranger forJohn Landis which ended up not being filmed.[17] He did his memoirs of his experiences during World War II,Quartered Safe Out Here (1992).
He wrote a short novel about theBorder Reivers of the 16th century,The Candlemass Road (1993), thenFlashman and the Angel of the Lord (1994) andBlack Ajax (1997), a novel aboutTom Molineaux, which featured Flashman's father as a support character.
Flashman and the Tiger (1999) consisted of three different Flashman stories.The Light's on at Signpost (2002) was a second volume of memoirs, focusing on Fraser's adventures in Hollywood and his criticisms of modern-day Britain. The latter could also be found inFlashman on the March (2005), the final Flashman, andThe Reavers (2007), a comic novel about the Border Reivers in the style ofThe Pyrates.
Following his death a novel was discovered amongst his papers,Captain in Calico. This was published in 2015.
Fraser was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1999 Birthday Honours for services to literature.[18] A traditionalist, he was an Honorary Member of theBritish Weights and Measures Association, which opposes compulsory conversion to the metric system.[19]
Fraser married Kathleen Hetherington in 1949. They had three children, Simon,Caroline and Nicholas; he had eight grandchildren. He was a supporter of Glasgow football teamPartick Thistle.
Fraser died inDouglas on 2 January 2008 from cancer, aged 82.[1]
TheFlashman series constitute Fraser's major works. There are 12 books in the series:
The "Dand MacNeill" or "McAuslan" stories is a series of semi-autobiographical short stories based on the author's experiences in theGordon Highlanders, in North Africa and Scotland, soon after World War II. Some of the stories were originallybylined "by Dand MacNeill", a play on the regimental motto BYDAND,[20] meaning standfast:
Fraser wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for:
Fraser also wrote the following scripts which were never filmed:[23]
Fraser adaptedThe Candlemass Road,Flash for Freedom andFlashman at the Charge for BBC radio plays.[28][29][30] Fraser was also a staunch critic ofpolitical correctness and enlarged upon his views on this matter (and others) on the BBC radio show, "Desert Island Discs."[31][32]
Fraser'sFlashman at the Charge (1973) was serialised in the April and June 1973 issues ofPlayboy. The climactic sequence ofFlashman in the Great Game (1975) was also excerpted there.[33]
There is aFlashman Pub inMonte Carlo named after the main character in his Flashman series of books.[34] There was another one in South Africa and a number of Flashman appreciation societies in North America.[35]
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